1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention may relate to an audio data player and a method of creating a playback list thereof.
2. Background
Portable audio data players capable of playing back audio data encoded in a digital format may be used. Handheld apparatuses of a comparatively small size capable of processing audio data encoded in a digital format and stored in a semiconductor memory apparatus have become popular. Moreover, as demands on further higher data storage capacity in the portable audio data players are increased, next-generation players including a miniaturized high-capacity hard drive are developed and getting popular.
Digital audio data may be loaded in an audio data player by downloading the digital audio data from audio CDs, the Internet, or other digital audio apparatuses.
The audio data may be decompressed and decoded by the audio data player according to a selected encoding format while being played back. A variety of encoding formats can be used to compress and decompress audio data.
In case of an audio data file encoded in an MP3 format, a special frame set called as ID3 tag may be added to a head or a tail of the data file. The ID3 tag may contain description text and other data related to the audio data file. For example, the tag may contain a title, an artist, an album, a year, comments, and genre. The ID3 tag information may be useful to search for, classify, and select a specific audio data file based on the information in the ID3 tag. Since the ID3 tag information is frequently stored as text characters, the information can be displayed on the display screen of the audio data player.
PC-based audio data file management programs allow a user to create and edit a playback list. The playback list may be downloaded in a portable audio data player and can be used to play back a series of selected audio data files. An M3U playback list is a kind of playback list formed as such and is related to MP3 audio data files. The M3U playback list may include only a text file including a list where paths or positions of data audio files contained in the list are sequentially numbered. Accordingly, a playback list created in a PC and downloaded to an audio data player can be used to selectively play back a series of audio data files.